The Question Time host, 55, said things have “definitely improved” following concerns mature female presenters were overlooked by bosses. In an interview with Good Housekeeping, she said: “Things have definitely improved, and definitely for older women. I’m perfectly phlegmatic about the nature of the job. “That’s just the way it is. These decisions get made. It’s brutal, but that’s how it is and I’m fortunate enough to have been on the positive end of it for many years.”
Fiona told how she was once turned down for a pay rise after a BBC boss told her she didn’t need one because she could rely on her boyfriend.
But she said: “I think the BBC has come a long way in equal pay.
“I think it’s come the furthest of all in the representation of women on screen. I think that’s really changed.
“Would I have got a job on Question Time 10 years ago, assuming I was good enough? I very much doubt it. Now that is not an issue anymore.”
Fiona joined the BBC in 1989 as a researcher for Panorama before going on to become the first female newsreader on News at Ten.
In January, she took over one of the most demanding jobs in TV, succeeding David Dimbleby as host of Question Time, which celebrates 40 years on air this autumn.
Married mother-of-two Fiona added: “I was incredibly nervous to start with, more nervous than I’ve been for anything in years. That has eased off now.”
The full interview appears in the November issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale October 1.